Use of a Special Prosecutor Is Proposed in H.U.D. Case

Members of Congress from both parties are calling for a special prosecutor to review allegations of impropriety involving former Housing Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr. and others who worked at senior levels of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The lawmakers expressed new concern about the intentions of the Justice Department, which they said had demonstrated little interest in the findings of the Congressional investigation of political favoritism and mismanagement at H.U.D.

''I'm uncertain about what exactly the Justice Department is doing,'' said Representative Christopher Shays, a Connecticut Republican on the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Employment and Housing, which has taken the lead on the H.U.D. investigation. ''Ultimately, we're going to have to have a special prosecutor.''

Representative Shays said there was no need for haste in appointing a special prosecutor, whose investigation, he said, might actually interfere with the work of the House panel. Prompt Action Favored

But others, including Representative Bruce A. Morrison, a Connecticut Democrat, argued against a delay. ''The time has come to pull that trigger,'' he said, in light of the Justice Department's ''lack of vigor'' and Mr. Pierce's decision last week to cancel an appearance before the House subcommittee that had been planned for Friday.

The House panel is scheduled to vote on Wednesday whether to issue a subpoena to Mr. Pierce.

David Runkel, a Justice Department spokesmen, said that there was no need for a special prosecutor and insisted that Federal prosecutors were aggressively pursuing investigations of H.U.D.

''Investigations are under way by a number of United States attorneys around the country,'' he said, adding that Attorney General Dick Thornburgh has a ''strong belief in the ability of the Justice Department to handle these cases.''

Earlier this year Mr. Thornburgh asked department prosecutors to give special attention to investigations of H.U.D. A number of former H.U.D. officials are under Federal indictment or investigation, although on charges largely unrelated to the recent inquiry on Capitol Hill. Post-Watergate Procedure

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Under the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, the Justice Department is to request the appointment of a special prosecutor, known formally as an independent counsel, when serious allegations of wrongdoing are made against a senior Federal official. The appointment is made by a panel of appeals court judges.

The relationship between the Justice Department and the Congressional investigators has been strained since earlier this summer when Mr. Thornburgh refused to meet with the chairman of the House panel.

Spokesmen for the Justice Department said at the time it was inappropriate for the Attorney General to discuss open investigations.

In an interview, Representative Shays said he that was convinced the White House and his Republican colleagues in Congress were determined ''to clean up this scandal,'' but that he was not clear about the motives of the Justice Department.

''I am a little uneasy with the reluctance on the part of the Attorney General to work closely with this subcommittee,'' Mr. Shays said.

Even though Mr. Thornburgh and others have said hundreds of criminal cases are being investigated, Mr. Shays wondered: ''Are they investigating Samuel Pierce? Are they investigating Lance Wilson? Are they investigating Deborah Gore Dean? I don't know.'' Mr. Wilson and Ms. Dean were executive assistants to Mr. Pierce.

Mr. Shays said he might yet be persuaded that the Justice Department should retain control over the H.U.D. investigation, but that the Department would have to have a ''more centralized effort.'' because ''the problems of H.U.D. are so pervasive and there's so much wrongdoing.''

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A version of this article appears in print on September 19, 1989, on Page A00022 of the National edition with the headline: Use of a Special Prosecutor Is Proposed in H.U.D. Case. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe